Arlington Service Station gets public art makeover

Abbi Matheson

Monday

Jul 9, 2018 at 3:36 PMJul 9, 2018 at 3:36 PM

Art is everywhere. Yes, even at a gas station.

Arlington resident and local artist Johnny Lapham, with the help of his friend Isaac Hunnewell, painted the Arlington Service Station during the month of June after owner Abe Salhi started looking into repainting the building.

"I'm a long time customer of Abe's," Lapham said. "He fixes my car and we get our gas here, and he actually talked to my partner Annie. He was showing her some colors that he was thinking of painting the gas station and she said, 'Oh, you have to talk to Johnny.'"

Lapham typically works with furniture, mirror frames and traditional paintings, using bright color and shapes to create his artwork. With the Arlington Service Station project, Lapham took his skills to new heights.

"I haven't seen a gas station that looks like this and I'm very proud that in Arlington we can have a gas station that looks like this," said Hunnewell. "It's unique to the neighborhood. For me, it's like a landmark."

Planning and prepping

To get started, Lapham drew up several designs with different colors and patterns. Salhi told Lapham he could pick whatever design he wanted, so Lapham went with a more retro design that wasn't generic.

"When I talked to Abe I said, 'what do you want' and he said 'I want it to look really different. I want it to not look like a gas station. I want it to look fun and friendly and like your family could come here,'" said Lapham.

Before Lapham and Hunnewell could even put brush to surface, they had to clean the building. Years of exposure to the elements and life as a gas station meant the building needed a good scrub before painting could begin.

The process took approximately one week.

Making the project harmonious

Lapham and Hunnewell spent the next four weeks painting the walls, poles and canopies of the Arlington Service Station. They painted stripes on the canopy above the gas pumps, in part because the metal there already had vertical lines, and painted circles of varying sizes to contrast with the stripes.

"We took extra time to make sure the colors really harmonized and didn't look too wild and wacky but actually really resonated together," said Lapham. "I thought a big piece was when we finally got the colors up on the canopy over the gas tanks, the same colors are on the building and the whole thing kind of came together."

While the two were painting the gas station, they noted that many customers were excited to find out what they were doing and were happy to see how lively and fun the painting job was.

"[Abe] really wanted to give something to the community that would be fun to look at and beautiful and that people would be proud of in their neighborhood. He wanted to give something to Arlington and just join in the way that arts are being celebrated in Arlington," said Lapham.

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
The Arlington Advocate ~ 9 Meriam St., Lexington, Massachusetts 02420 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service